The Guards:
Generic actions:
<U>se stairs
<U>se Temporal rifts
<Dr>ink
ReallyCleanSocks: You drink from your pint glass, pick at a couple pieces of barrel until they resemble rough wooden stakes. Then you drink more. This isn't a contest.
QueenQuinlin: You Jump off the boat into the deep fog. As you twirl off the boat you can see nothing, and have no indication on which angle the water will hit you from.
With a splash you enter the water head first, needless to say, ow.
<L>ook for that shipmate |[ReallyCleanSocks]|
<Dr>ink
X'o'Lore: You look around and see ReallyCleanSocks.
He seems to have stopped yelling, so you approach him about Mermaids. But he quickly turns the conversation to escorting him aboard the ship. How do you respond?
THE SLEUTHS:
Mish42: (???)sober
Trireme: (???)sober
Trireme:
> _
Mish42:
> Take gun_
You pocket your Classy Monocle, it produces a small noise when it collides with the loose Nilla Wafers previously stored in said pocket.
> Look window_
The scene is breathtaking. There are several roads that all lead in to a circular one. In the middle of the circle is a small Playground, a small girl stands alone in the center. Surrounding the Tranquil Lane are old houses and buildings, yours is a three office building which happens to be occupied by three rival detectives with very contrasting Stats.
> Mumble "Wonder what new problems will be birthed after tonight?"_
I'm sorry, I don't know how to "Wonder what new problems will be birthed after tonight?"
I first transform out of seagull form with randomly generated number powers, this makes no sense to anyone in the area much less me. I think an excessive amount of drunkenness in a confined area may not just warp senses of reality but reality itself. This requires further thought.
Sure. I swim all the way out here just to let this guy in on some hot mermaid action, and he's too busy fumbling about with a flask in one hand and paddling around with the other and mumbling something about "seers" and "empire lifts"? to pay me much mind. Ungrateful is what it is. Just because he's dog tired and too shit-faced to notice, he figures he can get off not paying attention to me. I have half a mind to throw him down some stairs or something. Let his "seers" see that. But there aren't any stairs around here.
The ship has stairs... Yes, it's too perfect! The stairs on the ship! The ones with those whatchamacallemdealies on them.
So I'll just grab him and his wreckage and start dragging his <u>seless bum toward the ship.
((Ah, sorry for not getting in on the last entry. Here is my current entry.))
I immediately hang up the phone. I don’t feel like talking to some person about their problems. Having just traveled through a freaking portal rift, I decide to take a <d>rink of something strong. I also <t>ake the Tommy Gun and check to see if it works.
The Guards:
Generic actions:
<U>se stairs
<U>se Temporal rifts
<Dr>ink
X'o'Lore: Grabs ReallyCleanSocks, and drags him to the damaged hull using his boosted ability to swim. You heave him into the opening and follow him in. Griping him under the arms, and taking breaths every few steps manage to pull him up the stairs. Once you're on the deck you take a break and prepare to finally push him down the stairs. The bastard takes a swig of rum and walks down the stairs. By the time you get over there he's gone
ReallyCleanSocks: You stride past the drinking seamen, and walk down the filthy stairs. In the darkness of the passage the glow of the some temporal rifts spreads hippie "colors" about the walls. You step into the some temporal rifts. ReallyCleanSocks is a Sleuth now.
THE SLEUTHS:
Mish42: (???)sober
Trireme: (???).003
ReallyCleanSocks: (???).09!
Trireme:
> hang up the phone_
The damsel on the other end just keeps whining and rambling on without saying much of anything. You can't bare listening to her personal issues any longer, you retire the receiver and rub your temples.
> drink liquor_
(The Flask in Your hat.)
You drink out of your flask.
> take the Tommy Gun_
Taken.
> fire Tommy Gun_
Your Opera Glasses are out of ammo!
Mish42:
> Speak girl_
You yell out a greeting to the girl, but she doesn't seem to acknowledge you. After a moment she turns her head and looks at you with melancholy that suggests that something's wrong.
> Take coffee_
You grab the coffee. Black, you wouldn't care but this particular blend is extremely acidic.
> Eat cookie_
(The Nalla Wafers in your pocket)
You eat the Nilla Wafers.
Your Social Aptitude enjoys a boost.
> Look phone_
Your old, but sturdy phone has been with you since the start. You only know the numbers of the two adjacent detectives by heart.
ReallyCleanSocks: The dampness of your breath condenses onto the couch cushions that make up your narrow fort. You smile, but, inside you start to panic. You should have made a door, but it's much too late for this now. Your only freedom lies in your mind, what will you make believe?
> _
|[I've been looking for something to spend my 500th post on, and since no suitable opportunities for saying something awesome came up I figured I'd update this mother fucker.]|
I <a>scend the stairs, as this cave is getting on my nerves and feels like the sort of thing I would want to punch. However, as a cave is not the walls themselves but rather an opening in a rock face or formation, I cannot do so without making a fool of myself... So instead of <p>unching the cave I <dr>ink. (<a> and <dr> chosen.)
>Sweep up the dirt on the floor. That's been there for ages!_
><DR>ink._
The end?
>Upgrade my broom, adding titanium-coated bristles, a carbon nanotube shaft, with copper wire running from top to bottom. Excalibroom! All dirt quakes in fear of it's awesome presence!_
...
I...but...goddamit. If anyone asks, I pushed him.
...
So...now what? Perhaps a rousing game of "Precariously Perched atop the Pulpit"? Meh, the pulpit's way over there. And I'd probably fall off before I managed to drink much. I guess I'll have to settle with "Simply Standing atop the Stairs getting Sloshed".
...
<Dr>ink.
[A]wake outside ((inside apparently, see DM's notes below)) the cave. I am somewhat confused. What happened, where am I? Why is everyone not awake lying in puddles of vomit?
… "But if we're going to reconstruct the go kart, surely we'll need more tools." Geoko said, sitting on the floor surrounded by what appear to be automotive parts. Being a seafaring lad, he found neither his experience on boats nor his experience as a mage benefited him in this situation. To be honest, he was quite befuddled by the bizarre shiny parts, what they were supposed to construct, and why he was calling it a 'go kart.' He turned to the man next to him, a man who'd owned the building which he'd been living in while studying the magical arts at Ye Ole Magic Skhoul Northwest. "Besides, why am I even doing this for you? I haven't lived in this building for years!" As he looked around, he realized this wasn't the apartment he lived in at school, but a library on the boat, which somehow had been moved back in time and space to his college days. Come to think of it, why did he even have any knowledge of a boat? He hadn't been at sea till many years after graduating.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a quiet but distraught, and slightly obnoxious, sounding, "Sir?"
Still lost in his confusion about the room from the boat's disconcerting relocation in the time space continuum, he paid little mind to the shrill voice. But alas the pestering nerd wouldn't let him contemplate this strange turn of events. This time with a less patient, but no less shrewd tone, "SIR?!"
With his train of thought ruined and spewing chemicals into a nearby river, he turned his attention to the disruptor. Snapping out of his thoughts and whipping his head around just as quickly, he proclaimed, "WHAT?!"
A short, blatantly nerdy man wielding mounds of ticker tape and a fistful of pencils worn to nubs was standing behind him. They stared at each for a moment. Then the accountant once again shouted "SIR!!!" And this time with such force that the whole room began shaking violently. Geoko struggled to grasp the wildly bouncing metal parts of the so called 'go kart,' but quickly fell over with the force of the shaking room and hit his head hard on one of the larger parts.
He blinked, and widened his eyes as though the angels would kill him should he close them again. There were sharp pins of light stabbing into the back of his mind, the spot on his head which had crashed down on a motor moments ago now spreading pain through the rest of his mind.
Another "Sir?" came crashing down, but this time more gently. He afforded himself one more blink, and realized he was staring up at a light above him.
"Unghghghghgh…" was all he could manage. Rolling onto his side, he found himself looking far down into a black pit, where he could faintly hear others below beginning to stir as well. He rolled back onto his back and found himself staring up into a bearded and disturbingly nerdy looking face.
"Oh good, you've come back to us," Carlyle said staring down at his master.
"Carlyle? I was having a most odd dream, We were on an island in a cave, and you weren't just some pest in a room on a boat in my university's town helping me and my landlord construct vehicles." As he said it, he tweaked an eyebrow and realized that unfortunately, this was the reality, and not the wonderful tiny horseless kart he'd been whizzing about on with an oversized gorilla. He let an "Oh." escape his mind and it evidently found its way into his mouth. Quick to deny his own fault, he turned to the short bearded accountant and said, "Carlyle… what did you do, and why have you disguised yourself with a false beard?"
"I'm afraid this is a real beard sir." Carlyle glanced down at his notepad. "It's been roughly 5.4329 years since…"
Geoko noticed him trailing off and was to have none of it. "Poppy cock. There was a Night Lord and a blob of evil and go karts and my university land lord and things happened."
"I'm afraid not sir, that must've been a dream."
Geoko reflected for a moment, and realized indeed, the true god had passed no such events in the real world. He grumbled, smacked his lips, and felt a pang in his throat from years of being parched in his unconscious state. He coughed, cleared his throat, and reached to his neck in discomfort. A great thick beard blocked his grasp from reaching his neck. "Unghghghgh…" he muttered once more.
"Carlyle, bring me a [D]rink."
((EDIT: boom. gauntlet thrown. your comptroller has spoken.))
((All right, if we're gonna do this, let's DO THIS))
[size=+3]Episode 2, Turn 1[/size]
"I'm sorry geoko," Carlyle replies, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
Though geoko is weak from lack of food or water for the past five years of unconsciousness, he's pretty sure he just heard his familiar's accountant defy his orders and is understandably concerned at this insubordination.
"You see," the accountant continues, "while you and the rest of the crew were blacked out due to a rather impressive imbibing of alcohol, I had a lot of time to myself to think about our current situation. A summoned familiar cannot leave its master's side until its task has been completed and the summoning spell reversed. Effectively, your comatose state trapped me in this cave under a rock on an island in the middle of nowhere with a crew of similarly-comatose bumbling drunks. I couldn't escape, I couldn't ascend back to the higher plane of existence where we familiars reside… I couldn't even end this wretched existence on my own terms. All I could do was sit, and wait, and the only other thing a familiar's accountant can do…"
"…I accounted."
geoko would take this moment of unusual booze-free clarity to point out that "account" as a verb does not function in this grammatical context, but he decides to wait and see where this is going.
"I took my abacuses, my actuarial tables, and my TI-83+ scientific calculator, and I devoted all these resources toward tabulating my options. Ultimately I came to only one conclusion: I should totally become evil and be the antagonist in your little adventure."
Carlyle strikes a dramatic pose (arms akimbo, legs spread outward, a sneer on his lips and a steely glare in his eyes) to further accentuate his corruption. It is at this moment that geoko notices that the accountant is wearing a dark cloak over his shoulders. The cloak flaps in a sudden breeze. Despite his overall nerdy appearance, the mage can't help but be impressed at the presentation.
"You've been asleep a long time, mage," Dark Carlyle cackles (he's evil now, so there's always going to be a little bit of a cackle in his speech, just go with it), "And I've had a lot of time to prepare for this moment. This isn't going to be anything like the last episode!"
Dark Carlyle catches himself. "Er, that is to say, anything like the previous leg of your journey. Dividing your adventures episodically seems a ridiculous construct for someone's actual real life. Which this is."
Having regained his momentum, the evil accountant draws in close. "I've taken the liberty to move all your compatriots together to avoid any wandering." Having more fully awakened, geoko sees that all the explorers, guards, rock islanders, mermen and sentient seagulls appear to have been dragged one by one into this cave and away from their previous locations, thus ensuring that all the branching paths he vaguely recalls have been conveniently converged into a single storyline. Some of the sailors, including Night Lord, X'o'Lore and NoLonger the Sailor Who Was Reincarnated as a Seagull, are starting to rouse from their slumbers.
"I'll be downstairs, waiting for your little gang to wake up. Come follow me, do your best to overcome my diabolical traps, solve my mind-wrenching puzzles, and face me if you dare."
"Oh, and one more thing," Dark Carlyle says as he walks away, "I've dumped out all the alcohol."
[size=+2]Actions[/size]
All players, you:
<W> ake up desperately searching for a drink ((in turn 1, only a single action will be permitted so I can ascertain who wants to play, but plot development and story elaboration are encouraged))
[size=+2]New Rules[/size]
• Your objective for Episode 2 is to defeat Dark Carlyle.
• No splitting the party. It just made things too difficult to manage last time, so if we're playing this game, we're playing together.
• Your character is still equipped with all the same items (food has spoiled)
• geoko no longer has control over his familiar, and his Summon Familiar spell cannot be currently used (as it's still active). Dark Carlyle is now a Dungeon Master-controlled character.
I do indeed <w>ake. I search for not merely booze, but liquid of any variety, as it feels as though I have been without water for over three years. I gather my bearings and observe the cave, trying to remember this area, and potentially determine a relative north.
((I'll give everyone a week to jump in. Just like in the last episode, people should feel free to join the game whenever they like, but this first round will give me a better idea of everyone's current state. I'll start writing Turn 2 on 12/8.))
I <w>ake up and discover I cannot remember any of my past interactions with anyone around me ((mainly because I don't want to re-read this whole thread, and I love a good amnesiac storyline)). I know a few basic things: My name, the fact that I'm in a cave, and I want a friggin drink.
Comments
EXPLORERS:
Amoeba Boy: (Coconuts).048
Deku1234: (Fire, Shovel, Ewokian Sharp Rock x2).012 (HAND ON FIRE)
Hlavco: (Sting).009
Illithid235: (N/A)sober (PEARL'D)
Geoko: (Familiar: Carlyle).075
God: (Brightglasses).096
Melted JohnnyCake: (Tryforce of Courage).057
MrCheeze: (N/A).003 (ON FIRE)
NoLonger: (N/A).054
Takeru: (N/A)sober
Bob: (Staff of Charon)sober (IS PURE FIRE)
The Explorers
Generic actions:
<A>ssend
<D>esend (Where applicable)
<H>elp open door
<L>ook around for loot
<S>earch with light
<Dr>ink
THE ROCKERS:
Hamlin: (Gold coins).024
Agentcel: (Musket).006
The Rock Islanders:
Generic actions:
<T>ake a coconut from the tree.
<G>o down the stair case
<H>ead to the ship
<Dr>ink
Agentcel: You become overcome with love at the many places your well worn clothes have been. Come on, you're not even that drunk.
THE GUARDS:
Night Lord: (Cookware Seagull 5000™, Fishing Pole, Rotisserie Oven, Marinade Syringe, Plastic Mixing Bowl, Mixing spoon, Cup, "Kiss The Chef" Apron, Reinforced Seagull Feast).024
X'o'Lore: (N/A).045
Trireme: (Coconuts)sober
QueenQuinlin: (N/A)sober
ReallyCleanSocks: (Pushbroom).087
Grandbahamut: (N/A).003
Amazox: (N/A).003
The Guards:
Generic actions:
<U>se stairs
<U>se Temporal rifts
<Dr>ink
ReallyCleanSocks: You drink from your pint glass, pick at a couple pieces of barrel until they resemble rough wooden stakes. Then you drink more. This isn't a contest.
QueenQuinlin: You Jump off the boat into the deep fog. As you twirl off the boat you can see nothing, and have no indication on which angle the water will hit you from.
With a splash you enter the water head first, needless to say, ow.
<L>ook for that shipmate |[ReallyCleanSocks]|
<Dr>ink
X'o'Lore: You look around and see ReallyCleanSocks.
He seems to have stopped yelling, so you approach him about Mermaids. But he quickly turns the conversation to escorting him aboard the ship. How do you respond?
THE SLEUTHS:
Mish42: (???)sober
Trireme: (???)sober
Trireme:
> _
Mish42:
> Take gun_
You pocket your Classy Monocle, it produces a small noise when it collides with the loose Nilla Wafers previously stored in said pocket.
> Look window_
The scene is breathtaking. There are several roads that all lead in to a circular one. In the middle of the circle is a small Playground, a small girl stands alone in the center. Surrounding the Tranquil Lane are old houses and buildings, yours is a three office building which happens to be occupied by three rival detectives with very contrasting Stats.
> Mumble "Wonder what new problems will be birthed after tonight?"_
I'm sorry, I don't know how to "Wonder what new problems will be birthed after tonight?"
> _
...
> Take coffee_
> Eat cookie_
> Look phone_
I [A]scend and return to the ship.
The ship has stairs... Yes, it's too perfect! The stairs on the ship! The ones with those whatchamacallemdealies on them.
So I'll just grab him and his wreckage and start dragging his <u>seless bum toward the ship.
I immediately hang up the phone. I don’t feel like talking to some person about their problems. Having just traveled through a freaking portal rift, I decide to take a <d>rink of something strong. I also <t>ake the Tommy Gun and check to see if it works.
EXPLORERS:
Amoeba Boy: (Coconuts).048
Deku1234: (Fire, Shovel, Ewokian Sharp Rock x2).012 (HAND ON FIRE)
Hlavco: (Sting).009
Illithid235: (N/A)sober (PEARL'D)
Geoko: (Familiar: Carlyle).075
God: (Brightglasses).099
Melted JohnnyCake: (Triforce of Courage).057
MrCheeze: (N/A).003 (ON FIRE)
NoLonger: (N/A).054
Takeru: (N/A)sober
Bob: (Staff of Charon)sober (IS PURE FIRE)
The Explorers
Generic actions:
<A>ssend
<D>escend (Where applicable)
<H>elp open door
<L>ook around for loot
<S>earch with light
<Dr>ink
Illithid235: Continues to descend. |[You woke up sobered, and went to go explore.]|
NoLonger: A drunkenness check succeeds. NoLonger's seagull spell fades. NoLonger moves up the stairs.
THE ROCKERS:
Hamlin: (Gold coins).024
Agentcel: (Musket).009
The Rock Islanders:
Generic actions:
<T>ake a coconut from the tree.
<G>o down the stair case
<H>ead to the ship
<Dr>ink
THE GUARDS:
Night Lord: (Cookware Seagull 5000™, Fishing Pole, Rotisserie Oven, Marinade Syringe, Plastic Mixing Bowl, Mixing spoon, Cup, "Kiss The Chef" Apron, Reinforced Seagull Feast).024
X'o'Lore: (N/A).045
Trireme: (Coconuts)sober
QueenQuinlin: (N/A).003
Grandbahamut: (N/A).003
Amazox: (N/A).003
The Guards:
Generic actions:
<U>se stairs
<U>se Temporal rifts
<Dr>ink
X'o'Lore: Grabs ReallyCleanSocks, and drags him to the damaged hull using his boosted ability to swim. You heave him into the opening and follow him in. Griping him under the arms, and taking breaths every few steps manage to pull him up the stairs. Once you're on the deck you take a break and prepare to finally push him down the stairs. The bastard takes a swig of rum and walks down the stairs. By the time you get over there he's gone
ReallyCleanSocks: You stride past the drinking seamen, and walk down the filthy stairs. In the darkness of the passage the glow of the some temporal rifts spreads hippie "colors" about the walls. You step into the some temporal rifts. ReallyCleanSocks is a Sleuth now.
THE SLEUTHS:
Mish42: (???)sober
Trireme: (???).003
ReallyCleanSocks: (???).09!
Trireme:
> hang up the phone_
The damsel on the other end just keeps whining and rambling on without saying much of anything. You can't bare listening to her personal issues any longer, you retire the receiver and rub your temples.
> drink liquor_
(The Flask in Your hat.)
You drink out of your flask.
> take the Tommy Gun_
Taken.
> fire Tommy Gun_
Your Opera Glasses are out of ammo!
Mish42:
> Speak girl_
You yell out a greeting to the girl, but she doesn't seem to acknowledge you. After a moment she turns her head and looks at you with melancholy that suggests that something's wrong.
> Take coffee_
You grab the coffee. Black, you wouldn't care but this particular blend is extremely acidic.
> Eat cookie_
(The Nalla Wafers in your pocket)
You eat the Nilla Wafers.
Your Social Aptitude enjoys a boost.
> Look phone_
Your old, but sturdy phone has been with you since the start. You only know the numbers of the two adjacent detectives by heart.
ReallyCleanSocks: The dampness of your breath condenses onto the couch cushions that make up your narrow fort. You smile, but, inside you start to panic. You should have made a door, but it's much too late for this now. Your only freedom lies in your mind, what will you make believe?
> _
|[I've been looking for something to spend my 500th post on, and since no suitable opportunities for saying something awesome came up I figured I'd update this mother fucker.]|
I <a>scend the stairs, as this cave is getting on my nerves and feels like the sort of thing I would want to punch. However, as a cave is not the walls themselves but rather an opening in a rock face or formation, I cannot do so without making a fool of myself... So instead of <p>unching the cave I <dr>ink. (<a> and <dr> chosen.)
> Equip Gun_
> Shoot self in head_
The End?
>Yell "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE"_
>Sweep up the dirt on the floor. That's been there for ages!_
><DR>ink._
The end?
>Upgrade my broom, adding titanium-coated bristles, a carbon nanotube shaft, with copper wire running from top to bottom. Excalibroom! All dirt quakes in fear of it's awesome presence!_
I...but...goddamit. If anyone asks, I pushed him.
...
So...now what? Perhaps a rousing game of "Precariously Perched atop the Pulpit"? Meh, the pulpit's way over there. And I'd probably fall off before I managed to drink much. I guess I'll have to settle with "Simply Standing atop the Stairs getting Sloshed".
...
<Dr>ink.
((Yea. that's right. i brought it back. i know you still have your files on this somewhere mario.))
Boy, I feel refreshed.
...Unlike this seagull meal. Ew.
[A]wake at the bottom of some stairs.
Ugh what happened? Where am I? What day is it? I can't remember anything.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a quiet but distraught, and slightly obnoxious, sounding, "Sir?"
Still lost in his confusion about the room from the boat's disconcerting relocation in the time space continuum, he paid little mind to the shrill voice. But alas the pestering nerd wouldn't let him contemplate this strange turn of events. This time with a less patient, but no less shrewd tone, "SIR?!"
With his train of thought ruined and spewing chemicals into a nearby river, he turned his attention to the disruptor. Snapping out of his thoughts and whipping his head around just as quickly, he proclaimed, "WHAT?!"
A short, blatantly nerdy man wielding mounds of ticker tape and a fistful of pencils worn to nubs was standing behind him. They stared at each for a moment. Then the accountant once again shouted "SIR!!!" And this time with such force that the whole room began shaking violently. Geoko struggled to grasp the wildly bouncing metal parts of the so called 'go kart,' but quickly fell over with the force of the shaking room and hit his head hard on one of the larger parts.
He blinked, and widened his eyes as though the angels would kill him should he close them again. There were sharp pins of light stabbing into the back of his mind, the spot on his head which had crashed down on a motor moments ago now spreading pain through the rest of his mind.
Another "Sir?" came crashing down, but this time more gently. He afforded himself one more blink, and realized he was staring up at a light above him.
"Unghghghghgh…" was all he could manage. Rolling onto his side, he found himself looking far down into a black pit, where he could faintly hear others below beginning to stir as well. He rolled back onto his back and found himself staring up into a bearded and disturbingly nerdy looking face.
"Oh good, you've come back to us," Carlyle said staring down at his master.
"Carlyle? I was having a most odd dream, We were on an island in a cave, and you weren't just some pest in a room on a boat in my university's town helping me and my landlord construct vehicles." As he said it, he tweaked an eyebrow and realized that unfortunately, this was the reality, and not the wonderful tiny horseless kart he'd been whizzing about on with an oversized gorilla. He let an "Oh." escape his mind and it evidently found its way into his mouth. Quick to deny his own fault, he turned to the short bearded accountant and said, "Carlyle… what did you do, and why have you disguised yourself with a false beard?"
"I'm afraid this is a real beard sir." Carlyle glanced down at his notepad. "It's been roughly 5.4329 years since…"
Geoko noticed him trailing off and was to have none of it. "Poppy cock. There was a Night Lord and a blob of evil and go karts and my university land lord and things happened."
"I'm afraid not sir, that must've been a dream."
Geoko reflected for a moment, and realized indeed, the true god had passed no such events in the real world. He grumbled, smacked his lips, and felt a pang in his throat from years of being parched in his unconscious state. He coughed, cleared his throat, and reached to his neck in discomfort. A great thick beard blocked his grasp from reaching his neck. "Unghghghgh…" he muttered once more.
"Carlyle, bring me a [D]rink."
((EDIT: boom. gauntlet thrown. your comptroller has spoken.))
[size=+3]Episode 2, Turn 1[/size]
"I'm sorry geoko," Carlyle replies, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
Though geoko is weak from lack of food or water for the past five years of unconsciousness, he's pretty sure he just heard his familiar's accountant defy his orders and is understandably concerned at this insubordination.
"You see," the accountant continues, "while you and the rest of the crew were blacked out due to a rather impressive imbibing of alcohol, I had a lot of time to myself to think about our current situation. A summoned familiar cannot leave its master's side until its task has been completed and the summoning spell reversed. Effectively, your comatose state trapped me in this cave under a rock on an island in the middle of nowhere with a crew of similarly-comatose bumbling drunks. I couldn't escape, I couldn't ascend back to the higher plane of existence where we familiars reside… I couldn't even end this wretched existence on my own terms. All I could do was sit, and wait, and the only other thing a familiar's accountant can do…"
"…I accounted."
geoko would take this moment of unusual booze-free clarity to point out that "account" as a verb does not function in this grammatical context, but he decides to wait and see where this is going.
"I took my abacuses, my actuarial tables, and my TI-83+ scientific calculator, and I devoted all these resources toward tabulating my options. Ultimately I came to only one conclusion: I should totally become evil and be the antagonist in your little adventure."
Carlyle strikes a dramatic pose (arms akimbo, legs spread outward, a sneer on his lips and a steely glare in his eyes) to further accentuate his corruption. It is at this moment that geoko notices that the accountant is wearing a dark cloak over his shoulders. The cloak flaps in a sudden breeze. Despite his overall nerdy appearance, the mage can't help but be impressed at the presentation.
"You've been asleep a long time, mage," Dark Carlyle cackles (he's evil now, so there's always going to be a little bit of a cackle in his speech, just go with it), "And I've had a lot of time to prepare for this moment. This isn't going to be anything like the last episode!"
Dark Carlyle catches himself. "Er, that is to say, anything like the previous leg of your journey. Dividing your adventures episodically seems a ridiculous construct for someone's actual real life. Which this is."
Having regained his momentum, the evil accountant draws in close. "I've taken the liberty to move all your compatriots together to avoid any wandering." Having more fully awakened, geoko sees that all the explorers, guards, rock islanders, mermen and sentient seagulls appear to have been dragged one by one into this cave and away from their previous locations, thus ensuring that all the branching paths he vaguely recalls have been conveniently converged into a single storyline. Some of the sailors, including Night Lord, X'o'Lore and NoLonger the Sailor Who Was Reincarnated as a Seagull, are starting to rouse from their slumbers.
"I'll be downstairs, waiting for your little gang to wake up. Come follow me, do your best to overcome my diabolical traps, solve my mind-wrenching puzzles, and face me if you dare."
"Oh, and one more thing," Dark Carlyle says as he walks away, "I've dumped out all the alcohol."
[size=+2]Actions[/size]
All players, you:
<W> ake up desperately searching for a drink ((in turn 1, only a single action will be permitted so I can ascertain who wants to play, but plot development and story elaboration are encouraged))
[size=+2]New Rules[/size]
• Your objective for Episode 2 is to defeat Dark Carlyle.
• No splitting the party. It just made things too difficult to manage last time, so if we're playing this game, we're playing together.
• Your character is still equipped with all the same items (food has spoiled)
• geoko no longer has control over his familiar, and his Summon Familiar spell cannot be currently used (as it's still active). Dark Carlyle is now a Dungeon Master-controlled character.